BRONX, N.Y. – For the third straight year, Abbey D'Agostino is the NCAA Northeast Regional Champion.

However, unlike the last two years, D’Agostino will not be headed to the national championship meet by herself as the Dartmouth women’s cross country team qualified for the final race of the season for the first time since 2001 with a second-place showing and 84 points. That finish earned the Green and White one of the two automatic berths from each of the nine regions.

The Topsfield, Mass., native continues her torrid 2013 season as she has yet to lose a race this fall. On Friday at Van Cortlandt Park, the senior ran a 19:48.3 on the 6K course to once again retain her title as the top individual runner in the region. That time was nearly 11 seconds ahead of the second-place Emily Sisson of Providence (19:59.1).

The Friars, the top-ranked team in the region and second in the country, claimed the team crown with 44 points. After the Big Green, Syracuse (135), Cornell (154) and Boston College (169) rounded out the top-five teams.

Junior Sarah Delozier was the second Big Green harrier to cross the finish line, claiming 13th in 20:35.3, while sophomore Dana Giordano was 17th in 20:44.0.

The consecutive finishes of sophomore Elizabeth Markowitz and junior Alison Lanois in 26th and 27th, respectively, helped Dartmouth to the second-best point total of the day and secured the trip to Indiana State next weekend for a chance to compete at nationals as a team for the first time in a dozen years.

For D’Agostino, the win marked the third straight season she dominated the regional championship after taking the crown in 2011 in Buffalo and again last November in Connecticut.

The most impressive part about D’Agostino’s now 5-for-5 showing this fall in terms of individual wins is her 10.8-second margin of victory on Friday afternoon was the closest any other runner has come. On average, she is winning races by 28.2 seconds ahead of the next-best finisher.

The 2013 NCAA National Championship Meet is Saturday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind., hosted by Indiana State. Check back with DartmouthSports.com for continuing updates on the meet.

The team after wrapping up a second-place showing and an automatic berth to NCAAs.Photo Courtesy of Tim O'Dowd